Saturday, September 19, 2009

Who are you?My name is Gabrielle Loisel. I was raised by wolves. I am currently majoring in French and Creative Writing at Agnes Scott College. I've been taking photos for as long as I can remember. I like bees, tea, leather shoes, feminism, afternoon sunlight, my cello, bathtubs, red lipstick, cupcakes, and knitting. Oh yeah, and naked people.

Is this for school?Nope. This is my own independent project.

How do you choose your models?I don't, really. They choose me. I take whoever volunteers.

Do you tell your models how to pose?Nope. I let them stand however they want. I think it alows their personalities to come through.

Why aren't these photos pretty?Aren't they?

Are these photos Photoshopped or in any way photo-manipulated?No. I think these bodies are perfect the way they are.

Why the poor lighting/photographic quality/etc. . . ?I'm really just not that interested in making glossy images. I think that the subjects stand alone and don't need any extra bells and whistles to enhance them. . . One day I may have a lovely studio and an expensive camera, but right now, I have Eugene and I have my dorm room.

Who's Eugene?He's my camera. I name my electronics.So, basically you're taking full-body mugshots?I'm trying to represent what's in front of me, right now, with the tools I have. Things are kind of on the fly.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

This first shot (the one from behind) is my favorite so far. Usually I crop the photos, but this sweet lady did such an excellent job of filling the space with her presence. She was so excited to pose for me, saying that she found posing nude liberating, and I think that her confidence really comes across.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Sunday, September 6, 2009

"I stripped because I agree with the premise of the blog, I don't think the idea of beauty as defined by the media should stand as the norm. I hope that the blog will continue to grow and re-define beauty. I am honored to be a part of it."

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

"I stripped to challenge myself. I stripped to try and start building confidence about my body. I stripped to help out a dear friend. I stripped so that people could see that magazines are fake, that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, and that no one should be ashamed of the way they look!"

Mission Statement

The Stripped Project exists to provide a fair representation of real beauty in hopes of repairing the damage done by the skewed depictions of the human (especially female) form in traditional media.

Manifesto

These photographs are neck-down only, front and back. These models and their photographs are un-"enhanced” and unedited in any way. These photos are not meant to be attractive or perfect or sexy, though they may be. They are meant to be honest. If traditional art is the idealized depiction of "beautiful" forms, then this is an anti-art project. This project is a protest against the current domination of pre-packaged beauty and conformist aesthetics. It is a celebration of the human form. The purpose of this project is to promote discussion. This is part photographic catalog, part documentary, part cultural commentary, part political statement, but mostly it is a revolution.

READ ME: The Stripped Project is now taking submissions!

Here are some ground rules about the blog's new policy.

By sending me your photograph, you are certifying:

That this is your photo and you own the rights to it.

That you are giving me the rights to use this photo however I see fit.

Most importantly, you are legally certifying that you are OVER 18.

Photographs should be .jpg images in the site's format: taken from the neck-down with one picture of the front, and one of the back. You can pose however you want, and with as many people as you want, as long as it's not obscene. Use common sense. I've found the best photos (the ones that are the most expressive and compelling) are usually the ones of people standing naturally, letting their body language do the talking.